kRIZ...Atkins discussion....

You asked something like, hoes does Atkins way relate to heart disease if I may paraphrase. And I wanted to interject that that answer depends on the choices one makes while doing Atkins! If you choose pork rinds and bacon cheese stuffed celery as a typical daily snack, I feel that you are playing with fire, especially if you have heart disease in the genes.  BUTT if the snacks and meals are more like reasonable allowable foods in reasonable portions, that is different.  For me, the reason that it wokrs, is:  you will be satsified with less food - it is richer food, higher in fat, but you will not feel as much hunger. I tracked 30 days on Atkins in fitday and i must say it was scary to see my fat be 50% each day. I have bad genes and felt that it was a gamble. It's bad enuf that I got fat, let alone goofing around with experimental ways to eat. If I could know that no more than 10-12% was sat fat, that would feel better, but that would require lots of close monitoring. That was amazing about Atkins for me...no actual hunger. I would be remiss to say that I did not miss tortilla chips and pasta...I did, and that was what broke the bubble. I should have went off for a few days and got back on. I found the second book, Atkins For Life WAAAAY more useful.  Look on Amazon in used books section.

I want to eat healthy and still indulge in a not so healthy snack every now and then. I'm a big meat eater but I also LOVE me some tortilla chips dunked some creamy mexican cheese dip and salsa. Yum yum!  It would be VERY hard to go eat my favorite mexican food and pass up the chips. That's the whole reason I go! lol That would be my biggest sacrifice with this style of eating.  Truth be told, I shouldn't be eating the damned chips on a portion control/healthy eating balanced eating plan either!  Maybe I can find some atkins friendly chips and bring them with me to the restaurant. I'm sure there's plenty of ways to still enjoy what you like.  A friend of mine spoke of it destroying your kidneys and having heart failure. All types of crazy crap. She had complications with it and had to be put on heart meds.  I suspect that she probably was consuming large amounts of saturated fat.  Probably loading her broccoli up with sat fat cheese and stuffing her celery with bacon as you suggested. (God I love bacon...)  I think I'll quiz her about it. She probably did the plan wrong. I'll have to ask her. I've been doing some reading up on it and it seems that the whole bad for your health thing is mostly a myth. The people who had issues already had a history of heart problems or they didn't follow the plan correctly. Stuff like that. Is this the book you were referring to? (Had to use tinyurl so it it would display on this site.) http://tinyurl.com/2wjy6n or is it this one? http://tinyurl.com/2vmsam What's the difference between those two??

Looks like the Kit one has a CD!  but yeah, either one talks about easing off into maintenance - far more user friendly than straight up Atkins. So a person could do the full metal jacket Atkins for as long as he could stand it, then maybe veer off into the maintenance when it got old. Mexican restaurants...that is a place I do not go often, same as you, the chips are bad enough, and the menus are pretty much worse. When I go, I eat zero chips before my meal, but have a few with my meal. One place in our town has awesome grilled fish soft tacos, so I get that, no beans, no rice (or perhaps a few bites).  Sigh....the choices we must make. 

I have been indulging a little bit each week. But I am making SURE that I go right back to normal. My downfalls are sweets and breads. I was starting to miss things to much. It's not always- but sometimes during the week- I will miss stupid things- like yesterday for some reason I had such a craving for candy corn (1 oz.= 2 points)! So I bought a bag. I had weighed in on Wed... had dropped a couple pounds and I said screw it! I know I ate more than I needed to! But I feel okay- I jumped right back on, this a.m. and will stick to my guns all week!  I have found that if I indulge a little every now and again- I feel more in control-- stronger! I also have made a pact with myself that IF I have sweets... I will *only* have them if I can also CHUG WATER with them. So I make myself drink like 4+ cups of water to have the treat. I just feel like that is helping a LITTLE to counteract the sweets going in :) I have also tried very hard to work with my head on knowing that I CAN HAVE WHATEVER I want... nobody... not even MYSELF... is TAKING it from me. I *CAN* have  what I want. But I CHOOSE NOT to have it most of the time.  If I start choosing to indulge to much- I will have to cut back to zilch again. But for me... right now anyway- it seems to help.  I do try to choose things that I can really be careful with- but that I really want.   WW has helped me to see what I'm putting into me! If I'm making burgers for dinner- and it's really calling my name- I buy lean burger and broil them, soak the excess fat up in paper towel... I use low fat mayo/ketchup- load on the lettuce/tomato (looks bigger that way!:) and I will eat the burger.  It feels good to know I CAN still eat what suits my fancy. BUT.... the first months into this- I could NOT have done this- cause I would not have had the self discipline/control to STOP and jump back in the saddle right away. Hang in there kriz... you'll find your way!

This is where I think dieters depart.  You need to know you can have anything, including pure sugar like candy corn.  And perhaps you're willing to deal with what it will due to the scale or perhaps you don't have issue with sugar effecting the scale--some without insulin issues can simply say, I'll work off the 400 calories and that's it.  In addition, like I said with Andy, I presume you're most comfortable living in restriction. Then there are the others who if they have that serving of candy corn, they wouldn't be able to eat 1 oz and would eat half the bag, or it would wreak havoc on the scale and they'd be up 3 pounds the next day and need to start from scratch to lose that 3 lbs, even if it's just "water weight". For me...and I'm just explaining my decision behind my choice...I chose low carb to begin with because that's the only way I've lost weight...calorie restriction never worked for me.  I get to eat until I'm full.  I get to choose healthy foods and stay away from things that work against me getting to goal.  I get to eat enough to protect my metabolism.  My decision was because I wanted to get to goal and stay there, not regain it back toot sweet because my body was not in agreement with what my head says.  I mean, an active woman should eat 1800-2000 calories in maintenance.  I think that's what our head tells us to desire. I didn't want to screw with my metabolism so that I would have to eat 1200 calories the rest of my life and always feel deprived.

This is where dieters must weigh what they want and need out of things.  I wouldn't limit myself to 1oz of candy corn (I mean, that's like 5 pieces!).  And once in the house, I'd finish the bag in 3 days or less.  Sugar not only screws me up in the moment, it goes against me when it comes to weight loss.

 

To each their own... it's just how things are working for me. Actually- 26 pieces of candy corn  is only 2 points... not a bad little shot of sweet if I feel the need- especially since I LOVE them :) And if I had a little extra points left- I could have double that and still not fall apart! :)   I'm not saying that is for everyone- I'm saying that in the first few months- there is NO WAY I could have controlled myself- where today, I'm a lot more in control. I'm learning to understand that  if I indulge once... it doesn't mean I have completely fallen off the wagon... I am being realistic. I'm not going to swear off candy corn for the rest of my life! I feel I'm learning to understand what my body needs me to do.... I have learned that if I DO take in the sweet... I must drink water to get it flushed out ASAP. And yes, the next day I might see a gain- but in two or three days- given the fact that I am back to the right WOE.... I will not have tha****er still on me. I will be okay.... THAT is a whole new mindset for ME. It use to be- if I was DIETING... and ate too much for lunch- I would overload the rest of the day and likely the rest of the WEEK. It's working for me... like your way is working for you :)

Neecee and I agree.  If you read the book you realize it's not advocating that you just stuff your face with pork rinds and pile cheese on everything.  There are limits.  It's basically saying, protein (lean is best) and veggies for two weeks, then slowly adding things in like dairy and fruits and eventually other carbs over time. Look at the link I sent you and think about it.   A healthy day could be eggbeaters with cheese and turkey bacon, a taco like salad at lunch (let's say veggies, ground turkey with hot seasonings, peppers, maybe a dollop of sour cream and two oz of cheese), a steak and mashed cauliflower with dinner.  Snacks in between. How bad is that?  Not at all. When I read of your talk of a restaurant and the nachos, I have to admit, I shake my head over this.  It's one of the things that frustrates me with some on the board.  If you want something bad enough, WTF are you negotiating to keep in things that totally keep you from goal? I'm not saying you'll never have nachos again, but why can't you get to them when you're at goal and then choose a healthy way to fill that craving?  Corn products are just crap to your goal, so let them go while you're losing weight. And like an alcoholic who doesn't do bars until s/he can handle having just soda water or virgin drinks, why go to restaurants that cater to obesity?  I love Chilis and a sirloin with mashed potatoes, veggies, and texas toast.  If and when I do go, I now know to request no sugar in the dressing on the steak (yes, it has sugar!) and no bread and two servings of veggies instead of the potatoes.  I don't feel deprived. IMO, as long as you're negotiating, you're saying food is more i mportant than your health.  Eating crap that kills you is more enjoyable than life. Harsh?  I'm sorry.... I just for myself decided to live healthy.  I live as I see my healthy friends live.  Nachos?  Well, not for them or me.   Honestly, once you decide if you REALLY want this, the only negotiating you'll be making is how to mock the foods you once liked to satisfy your cravings.  And if you read up, particularly on Atkins stuff, you'll see there are so many ways to creatively address the craving and enjoy it. I have never heard a person who succeeded at Atkins say they hated it--unless they did it wrong.

" If you want something bad enough, WTF are you negotiating to keep in things that totally keep you from goal?" Because it's an addiction.  "IMO, as long as you're negotiating, you're saying food is more important than your health.  Eating crap that kills you is more enjoyable than life." No, I don't think I'm saying that at all.   What I want and what I do are often two separate things. That is pure human nature.  I don't look at it as negotiating but rather admitting (or contemplating) what it is that I have to give up to do this. My way of doing this is  *****ing and moaning.. or whining as Neecee says. :)  I suppose I might could consider it as negotiating too.  It's a step towards change, you agree? I mean sometimes you negotiate to get a better deal but the deal just doesn't get any better and you accept the original offer.. I ordered the new diet revolution book last night.  I'll be reading up on it soon! :)

This is the bottom line right here...none of us want to give up our jones, whatever it is. Sweets, chips (me), booze....whatever. And I am here to say you don't have to do that.   You MAY have to not go where it's slippery for a while until you can say I am able to eat a few chips/pizza/sweets. That is one thing.  I often call it de-tox. Item in question needs to be removed not because it's bad...it is so YOU can get it into perspective. Food is not more important than my health, but for chry-eye, it is NOT a goddam science project either.  It is supposed to be enjoyed. I realize there are fat people who actually do dislike food, but that is not me.  Most of us lost weight 100x sipping cabbage soup. We're getting to the place where we yes, we know we can't eat it all, but we are realizing it's us, not the food, that needs fixed.  It's taken me 35 years to realize that I can eat what I want in the correct portions. Nothing is barred from my diet.

Neecee, we don't want to give up our "jones", but the trade off IMO is staying in the cycle.  I truly think that only some can manage the same treats on a reduced portion and frequency.  See, any of us, if we did it right, could change our bodies drastically in just this year alone.  I've seen people get to goal in one year (one woman I admire lost 130lbs in 10 months--fast, yes, too fast, yes, but my point is that she transformed her body drastically. Period.  She's maintained it for years.).   Imagine, Chris, if you could be 200lbs by Christmas.  I honestly think once you get a taste of success (20lbs), you're going to be so motivated, you won't need me to give you a kick int he pants (and I do it with kindness and affection). Last thought, I once read a thought by the male trainer on TBL and he talked about whining, referencing clients as often 4 year olds throwing tantrums of "I want".  Guess what.  You can't.  Not in the same way, and not for now.  Not if you want to reach your goal.